Have you ever had the scary experience of changing lanes on the highway and, hopefully, just avoiding side-swiping a vehicle in your “blind spot”?
I’m guessing you are all familiar with that term, but did you know that we also have personal “blind spots”?
Your “blind spot” is defined by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in the often referred to Johari’s window as things that you are not aware of,
In every presentation skills class, at least one participant asks how to get around their tendency to use filler words. Also known as “crutches” and “disfluencies”, they are words like “umm”, “you know,” “like”, “ I think”, and “right?”.
While there is nothing wrong with the occasional verbal filler, especially because it can make the speaker more relatable, excessive use of fillers is usually a sign of inexperience and nerves, and their effect can be both distracting and even irritating.
Beatriz Rodriguez, the Chief Diversity Officer at the Home Depot, says that the ability to accept feedback in a calm, gracious, and accepting way is essential if you are going to get ahead professionally.
She goes on to say that women can be particularly sensitive when it comes to receiving feedback. She suggests that women should not only say “Thank you” when someone takes the time to volunteer feedback, but that everyone should actively seek it.
